ST. PETERSBURG — Right-hander Griffin Jax struck out a season-high seven batters over five innings as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 at Tropicana Field, putting Tampa Bay in position to split the four-game series with a win in Thursday afternoon’s finale.
Jax, making his 11th start after beginning the season with 11 relief appearances, worked around five hits and two walks while throwing a season-high 88 pitches. The outing marked the fourth straight time — and sixth overall — that Jax completed five innings since transitioning to the rotation.
“I’ve been definitely happy with everything, and just continuing to learn,” Jax said. “When you’ve got the best pitching coach in the Major Leagues on your side, it helps, and then some other really quality starters in the room to lean on. It’s just made the experience that much better.”
Jax escaped early trouble after putting the first two runners on in both the first and second innings. He struck out Jac Caglianone to end the first-inning threat, then induced a double-play grounder from Salvador Perez. The Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the second, but Jax retired Carter Jensen to keep the game scoreless.
“He’s one of the best,” Perez said of Jax, whom he faced frequently when the pitcher was a Twins reliever.
Yandy Díaz led the Rays’ offense, going 4-for-5 with an RBI that tied him with B.J. Upton at 447 for sixth most in franchise history. The Rays scored three runs in the third inning and two in the fourth against lefty Noah Cameron, using bunts and aggressive baserunning to manufacture offense. Manager Kevin Cash said the approach was exactly what the club needed after squandering recent scoring chances.
“Just putting pressure on the defense,” Cash said. “I think when we’re doing that, that’s probably the best version of our offense where it’s just constant pressure.”
Jax allowed two unearned runs in the fifth after shortstop Taylor Walls committed a rare error on a Caglianone grounder with two outs, and left fielder Chandler Simpson misplayed a line drive off the bat of Perez. Michael Massey followed with a double, but Jax fired a full-count changeup past Isaac Collins for his seventh strikeout to end the threat — his second-highest single-game total behind a career-high 10 on Aug. 10, 2021.
“Obviously, you don’t really see that too often, a reliever going to a starting role,” outfielder Jonny DeLuca said. “He’s just taken it and run with it and been really, really good for us.”
Jax finished three strikeouts with changeups, two with sweepers, one with his sinker and one with his four-seam fastball. The Rays and Royals close the series Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field.